Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity hit Vodafone Group, with traders buying 5,978 call options on Monday, about 189% above the normal volume of 2,072 calls.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with recent rating changes including downgrades from Weiss Ratings and Zacks, while New Street Research upgraded the stock to buy. Overall, MarketBeat shows an average rating of Reduce and a target price of $52.38.
• Vodafone shares rose to $15.54 on Monday, and the company recently announced a dividend of $0.2766 per share to be paid on July 30.

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 5,978 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 189% compared to the typical volume of 2,072 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 53,804 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,603 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Vodafone Group by 31.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Vodafone Group by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,524 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VOD. Weiss Ratings lowered Vodafone Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Vodafone Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 31st. New Street Research raised shares of Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Vodafone Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $52.38.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VOD traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $15.54. 5,425,891 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,316,285. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Vodafone Group has a 52 week low of $10.66 and a 52 week high of $16.60.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2766 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 376.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.

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